Alejandro Guzmán creates “performance sculptures” that have an active life as catalysts, generating what he calls Creative Misunderstandings. Giving sculpture a dynamic life has led to Creative Misunderstandings with titles such as Mendacity, Class Wars, Intellectual Derelict and the Fatalist.
Now on view the Fatalist—in the center of the gallery —features a wooden skeleton with surfaces of glitter, mirrors, animal horns, and textiles, placed on a framing tapestry derived from a residency in Guatemala and a wall of preparatory drawings.
The Fatalist is joined by a family of other sculptures created in Seattle in June. To activate them, Alejandro enacted events involving hidden signals, sounds, and the choreographed movements of other artists.
A video interview with the artist describes the blend of influences that derive from his own family, his involvement with the petrorada approach of Haiti, the veijgante of Puerto Rico, the nkisi of central Africa, and other aspects of modern world history.
Evoking ritual, celebration, and performance from a multitude of sources, Guzman strives to establish a new law and order of cultural ideas. His contemporary baroque disguises are meant to disrupt any preset direction and suggest new ways of interacting.